CHAPTER 20.

"So we're back to waiting for them to attack us?" Gabi groused, tapping a booted foot on the carpet in front of the couch. She swirled the ice and whiskey in her gla.s.s and glared at it. Tonight she actually wished it was possible for her to get drunk; she'd love to get drunk enough to forget everything. Even just for a few hours. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn't. Though everyone seemed to agree that the Dark Ones wouldn't have the power or resources to attack them for at least the next few days, she couldn't help but worry that they would manage to surprise them all yet again.

It was the crowd of usual suspects in the entertainment room at the Estate. Athena was the one pacing for a change. Dressed in black slacks and a cream blouse, her whole demeanour seemed to have shifted in the last few days. Her haughty, businesslike att.i.tude and obvious disdain of the other races had fallen by the wayside somewhere along the ride. Her confidence had taken a knock after the events at the warehouse. They'd come scarily close to being overwhelmed by demons, and Athena had never been in such close-quarters fighting with something that could literally rip her head off. But the loss of that slightly overbearing confidence had been replaced by a grim determination; instead of rolling over and admitting defeat, the Magus was grabbing the problem with both hands and preparing to wrestle it into submission. The biggest difference was her openness to the suggestions and knowledge of others. She was actually listening to them, and by the forced removal of her blinkers, she was quickly beginning to jump on possibilities the rest of them didn't see. No one ever accused Athena of being slow or stupid.

"The Oracles are trying everything they can," she said as she paced away from the group, towards the French doors, "but they just aren't powerful enough to break through the shielding spell. The Dark Ones can cast much stronger spells than us when they use Blood Magic." Suddenly she froze, quite literally, one foot off the ground in mid-step. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Gabi would've laughed aloud. Gabi wasn't the only one to go on immediate alert. Fergus's hand went to his sword belt, Kyle's fell to the dagger in his boot, and Julius and Alexander were both on their feet without Gabi seeing them move.

"Benedict." Athena rounded on the Vampire, who was sitting at the bar, pouring shots of, as far as Gabi could tell, every hard liquor Julius had in stock. Mac was a couple of barstools down, nursing a c.o.ke.

"Yes, Lady Defender?" Benedict said, not looking at her, and downing a shot gla.s.s of dark purple alcohol. He grimaced in a pleased sort of way and picked up the next one, eyeing the green liquid in it speculatively.

"Benedict!" Athena growled.

He downed the next shot, and his face contorted into a comical mask. Gabi guessed he'd found the absinthe.

"Athena," he drawled, in a nasal imitation of an annoying teenager.

Gabi glanced at Julius, one eyebrow raised. Was it possible that Benedict was actually getting drunk? Julius gave a tiny shake of his head and then a shrug, which Gabi interpreted to mean 'probably not, but who the h.e.l.l knows?'

Athena strode towards the bar, and Gabi half expected her to slap the ancient Vampire. She actually held her breath, not sure how the Princep would take that kind of treatment, even though he seemed to have some kind of feelings for the Magus. Everyone had a snapping point, and Benedict may well be at his. Instead she grabbed the next tot gla.s.s out of his fingers and spun the barstool until he faced her.

"Snap out of it," she snarled. "We lost a battle; get over it. The war hasn't even begun."

Gabi hadn't even realised until that moment how different Benedict had been since the trap in the warehouse. Now that she thought about it, he was acting a little like a kicked puppy.

"Let's blow this City," Benedict said to her. "Come back to Court with me. This place is doomed."

"No. It's. Not," Athena enunciated each word. "And you can make the difference."

Benedict heaved a huge sigh and, without breaking eye contact with her, reached back and picked up another shot. He downed the bright red liquid and instantly began coughing and spluttering. Gabi turned a giggle into a cough; evidently he'd found the cinnamon liqueur.

"How can I do that, my Lady Defender?" he wheezed, his eyes watering just a little.

"Come with me to the Oracles," Athena said. "Link with them; enhance their power. With your help, they might be able to see through the powerful shielding spell."

"I don't like your pet Clairvoyants," he said, with a petulant pout. "They're spoilt, cosseted children with an overinflated opinion of themselves."

Gabi wasn't in time to stop the amused snort that erupted from her nose as he described his own behaviour. Benedict turned his head towards her, far enough that Athena couldn't see his expression, and winked. Gabi couldn't contain herself any longer. Between the tension of the last few days and the exhaustion from nights of fighting, the wink, combined with Athena's glare in her direction, sent her over the edge. She laughed until her ribs ached, and after a few seconds of befuddlement, the rest of them joined in. It was the best stress reliever Gabi had ever experienced, and when she regained her breath, she felt like an entire mountain had been excavated from her shoulders.

"It's actually a very good idea." Julius spoke once they'd collected themselves and Gabi and Kyle had finished wiping tears from their eyes. "Will you do it, Benedict?"

"You'll owe me one," he answered, downing yet another shot of alcohol, a pale orange-coloured one, obviously a little less potent than the previous few, because he actually smiled and looked at the gla.s.s appreciatively.

Gabi rolled her eyes; trust him to like peach schnapps.

Gabi picked at the leftover Thai takeaway food. The Oracles were still playing at being secretive; it had taken some convincing on Athena's part to get them to meet with Benedict. They'd finally acceded but only on the condition that she and Benedict go alone. To fill the time, Gabi had taken Mac and Kyle with her on a food run after Athena and Benedict left. She'd taken immense pleasure in introducing Mac to the palate-pleasing cuisine produced by her favourite Thai restaurant. His scepticism soon gave way to reluctant nods of approval; he seemed particularly fond of the beef rib red curry. Gabi had ordered an array of meals, and the food-eaters amongst them shared the containers around, sampling each until they were full to bursting. The Vampires had looked on with that intense concentration they only seemed to get when watching others eat; that look that was part remembering, part wondering, and all envious. Gabi was too hungry to feel sorry for them.

When they'd eaten themselves to a standstill, Julius went off to take care of some business, and the rest left to do whatever it was Vampires did in the early hours of the morning, leaving just her, Mac, Kyle and Alexander in the room. In boredom she flicked on the large flat-screen TV and found a news channel. Trish had sent word earlier that the media in the City were all in a tizzy over the minor earthquake that had apparently rolled across much of the City, not only in the industrial area around the warehouse. Experts were concerned about shifting tectonic plates and the possibility of further quakes more serious than the first one.

Sure enough a news presenter was interviewing a seismologist on the size and range of the earthquake, and discussing the chance of more. Bored, Gabi switched channels, the next one she stopped on was a small, regional channel dedicated to the more unusual stuff that happened. Gabi knew the channel well; it gave Byron countless headaches as their researchers had a knack for finding genuine examples of supernatural occurrences, sometimes with video or photographic evidence. It was a lucky thing that the vast majority of humans liked wearing their rational blinkers, and as easy as it was to produce some kind of recorded proof of the paranormal with the advent of smartphones, tablets, intelligent eyewear and the like, it was now just as easy to fob off any such proof as CGI or graphic manipulation. As the human race evolved technologically, it also devolved spiritually. The few believers left were simply not enough of a voice to make others believe something they didn't want to.

Gabi scowled as a male reporter-dressed vaguely goth, complete with studs in his nose, lip, eyebrow and tongue-stood facing her from the TV screen, describing some of the clean-up operations that had gone on after the battle the previous night. By the man's description, he'd been somewhere not too far off. He'd seen large wolves, men and women with bandages and blood, the medical vans as well as their battle clothing, and some of the new weapons.

Gabi knew Trish and some of the Magi from the SMV would make sure there was no seriously d.a.m.ning evidence, and the scene would be fobbed off as a movie set or something similar. The few humans who believed the reports wouldn't become a real threat to them. Unless the supernatural races chose it, nothing would uncover them, but it was another job to do when they needed to pool all talent and conserve all energy. Mac, seeing her interest in the channel, told her a little more about his home city and how they dealt with the ghost-hunter types and the believers. It wasn't too dissimilar to their own solutions; there were only so many ways you could dissuade annoyingly persistent humans.

She was just getting antsy enough to think about going for a shower, or perhaps a swim in the newly built, heated, indoor pool when Athena arrived back. Alone. She looked tired to the point of collapse, and Gabi wondered when last the woman had eaten or slept.

"Where's Benedict?" she asked, going over to paw through the takeaway containers until she found one that had barely been touched. She shoved it at Kyle and nodded towards the bar, where a small microwave resided under the counter. Kyle took the hint and went to warm the food.

"He's, uh..." She looked slightly uncomfortable. "He's gone to find...nourishment."

Gabi understood her discomfort intimately, but it was a fact of life: Vampires needed to feed just like the rest of them.

"You didn't offer yourself?" Alexander drawled from the couch to Gabi's right. There was a strange note in his voice, making Gabi glance over at him. His eyes were narrowed, and his face had a pinched look to it.

"I...No...He..." Athena's cheeks went pink as she became uncharacteristically fl.u.s.tered and broke off.

The microwave pinged, and Kyle walked over to push the food into her hand along with a plastic fork. Gabi could practically drink the tension in the room.

"What the..." she began, and then saw Mac tilt his head and widen his eyes so only she could see; he was trying to tell her something with his expression. He flicked his gaze from Athena to Alexander and back. Then she got it. "Oh," she said in an undertone. d.a.m.n, she was blind sometimes. Alexander and Athena had quietly been developing something between them, until Benedict showed up and began displaying his own version of interest in Athena. Alexander was jealous, and this could be turning into an unpleasant love triangle just when they least needed any distractions. Gabi hurled a decorative pillow at Alexander; he was distracted enough that it almost hit him.

"Give it a break," she grumbled at him. "Can't you see she's almost dead on her feet? Get her something to drink." Then, "Sit down, Athena, before you fall down. Eat. Then tell us what happened." The biggest surprise of the night was that both Alexander and Athena followed her orders without comment. She sent a mental spear of thought to Julius; he'd know what it meant.

Less than five minutes after Gabi's summons, Julius walked back into the room. Athena was almost finished a box of Thai beef salad, according to the handwritten note on the side of the box. She looked drawn and worried but a little less pale. Gabi was sitting on one side of a sofa, her legs curled up next to her, nursing a gla.s.s of wine with apparent calmness, but impatience oozed from every cell of her body. Joshua Maclary had taken a walk onto the patio outside, Kyle was on his phone, checking on Trish, and Alexander was brooding over a gla.s.s of bourbon, avoiding everyone's eyes. He wondered what Gabi had said to his second in command to both annoy and subdue him. He knew that Alexander's feelings for the Magus were deeper than mere l.u.s.t, stronger than casual dalliance, and he knew that Benedict was feeling the same attraction to the woman. It was going to come down to her choice. As much as Julius felt for his long-time friend, he was intensely glad that Benedict hadn't set his sights on Gabi. Things would not be nearly so cordial if another man tried to get between him and his Lea. Speaking of which.

"Caspian is back," he told the group, walking to fold himself onto the sofa next to Gabi.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "He's here?"

"Not at the Estate," Julius told her. "He's back in the City, though. I can sense his presence. He's not terribly close yet. I'm not sure he's even heading our way."

"How convenient," Benedict drawled as he sauntered into the room. His complexion looked better; he'd obviously availed himself of one of the Feeders. As usual, a storm of power surrounded him, Julius was intrinsically aware of it, though it didn't seem to bother the others, so he a.s.sumed they didn't feel it like he did. It must have something to do with his magical heritage. Then Gabi shifted, shivering a little and rubbing one of her upper arms. So he wasn't the only one who felt it.

"What do you mean?" Gabi asked him, her voice carefully controlled.

Benedict smiled, but it wasn't pleasant. "You know you can't trust that sociopathic piece of sc.u.m, don't you?" he asked her. "He's only come back now because he's found out that there isn't a price on his head." He turned his sardonic gaze on Julius; then his eyes narrowed suddenly. "You're just luring him in, aren't you?" he asked speculatively. "Once he's back under your control, you can find an excuse to kill him. I like your thinking."

Gabi, who'd gone tense at the mention of Caspian's name, unexpectedly relaxed a little.

"That's not what I intend," Julius felt the growl in his voice. Gabi's unease was back.

"You know he's going to try to find a way to kill you or to lure the Dhampir away from you," Benedict pressed. "Every second he's around, you're going to have to watch your back and your woman." The predatory smile on the teenage face made Julius distinctly uncomfortable.

Mac arrived back from his walk, and Julius decided to steer the conversation away from sensitive matters.

"He's not an important issue right now," Julius said. "I'll deal with him after this crisis is over. Tell us what happened with the Oracles."

Benedict pursed his lips, thoughtfully studying first Julius and then Gabi. Julius wasn't sure he wanted to know what the Vampire Magus saw. Yesterday he'd been relieved to find out that Benedict didn't have any true offensive or even defensive magical talent. His greatest strength was his ability to magnify the talents of others, but his secondary strength, and secondary didn't mean weak, was clairvoyance and clairaudience. Benedict was a person who always knew more than he let on. There was something he wasn't telling them about Caspian. When they had time to worry about it, he'd have to heed Benedict's warning.

"Benedict's a.s.sistance helped the Oracles push through some of their shielding spells," Athena said, pushing all thoughts of the troublesome Spanish Vampire out of his mind. Her tone wasn't that of someone who had good news. "The reason they've been so impenetrable is that they were multilayered. One of the Magi working with them is a very talented Shielder, able to build very complex walls." She drew in a long breath. "The Oracles were able to see several dozen future possibilities, but there are too many unquantifiable elements at play here. There isn't much concrete."

"Is there anything they know with relative certainty?" Julius asked.

"That any attacking moves we make will be countered," she told them. "In most cases with serious consequences for us. Our only real hope of overcoming them is when they attack and try to gain control of the Source."

The silence was heavy.

"At that time every ounce of their magic, energy and concentration will be poured into one goal," Benedict took up the explanation. "If we're strong enough to stand against them then, if we have the numbers and resources we need, we can obliterate them. We need to wipe them off the face of the earth. It's the only way to protect the stability of the supernatural world." Benedict's gaze bored into his meaningfully.

Julius felt his jaw muscles tighten, his teeth clamping together. If he'd been harbouring any hope that he could get through this fight without having to utilise his newly discovered abilities, Benedict's look just blew them away. They were expecting him to step up to the plate. A virtually untrained Vampire Magus.

Benedict's mouth lifted in a slight smile. "Eventually you'll believe me when I say you're underestimating yourself. Consider this your trial by fire."

Julius had learnt a little of the Magi ways and knew there was a trial all trained Magi faced when their mentors considered them ready to pa.s.s from Apprentice to full Magus. Apparently the trial of a Vampire Magus was a little more serious.

"So we're back to sitting around waiting for them to attack?" Gabi sighed, leaning back and agitatedly turning her ring around and around on her finger.

"Well, not exactly." The barest hint of a smile touched Athena's mouth. "We know a lot more about how many are coming against us, and when and where they plan to attack. We can now make plans of our own. The Magi High Council has already put out a call. Every able-bodied Magus on the continent who can make it in time will rally to aid us." Then her smile was gone, and she dropped her gaze. "There is some bad news, though, and according to the Oracles, there isn't a d.a.m.n thing we can do to prevent it."

Julius had never heard Athena curse before. She'd paused, working up to what she had to say.

"What, dammit?" Gabi burst out. "Just tell us."

"They're building a Demon Gate," Benedict inserted when Athena still seemed to be choking on the words she needed to get out. "A permanent doorway into the Etherworld. A doorway that will allow demons in and out of our reality at their will and whim. And not only demons, but other Dark Magi, there are ways for Dark Magi to travel the void and converge at the Demon Gate. That's what they're fighting to protect; that's what they've been so desperate to keep us from finding out. Much of the chaos they've already caused has been purely to keep us looking in the wrong places."

Silence as each of them digested the revelations in their own way. It was Kyle who broke it, in typical, as Gabi called it, Kyle-style.

"Well, now we do know about it," he said. "We're a step ahead of where they think we are. It means we have an advantage. It means we know it has to be destroyed." He popped the cap off a beer bottle and took a quick swig as the beer foamed up the neck of the bottle. "We can destroy it, right?" His optimistic att.i.tude suddenly stalled as he realised his a.s.sumption may not be correct.

Athena stood, wiping her hands on a napkin and brushing non-existent crumbs from her slightly creased trousers. "There is one person we think would be able to destroy it, but it needs to be destroyed at the same time that they launch their final attack. We have to wait until they are entirely committed, have put everything into the a.s.sault against us and their attempt to break through to the Source before we destroy the Demon Gate. And we have no idea exactly how many demons they will have brought through the gate once it's open."

"Who?" Gabi asked, an edge in her voice; she seemed to know already who Athena was talking about. As Julius looked up to frown at Athena, he saw the answer as well.

"Julius," Athena said, "we think you have the best chance of destroying the gate."

A sick kind of terror hit him in the chest.

Gabi felt the fear punch through Julius. It was strong enough to make her glad she was already sitting; if she'd been standing, she may have swayed from the onslaught. Outwardly his face remained impa.s.sive, no trace of his terrible uncertainty, though she noticed Alexander glance his way with a frown.

"What makes you think I, of all people, can destroy this gate?" he asked at last. "I have barely any Magus training. I know little of spells and enchantments, nothing of shielding or breaking wards. I'm a.s.suming we don't have months until the Dark Ones make their move?"

"You're an Air-bender and a Fire-bender, Julius," Athena said, her tone carefully neutral and patient, but Gabi caught an undercurrent of awe mixed with frustration in her voice. "The strongest Fire-bender we've ever heard of. You make Lance look like a first-year apprentice." The awe was more apparent in her voice now. "That combined with your control of air, well, it makes you the strongest offensive Magus in existence. The testing we did showed you could even have an affinity for other elements, like metals and water."

"Hold on," Gabi interrupted. "You say Air-bender. That's like James, right?" One of the newer Hunters had actually deflected bullets during an ambush a few months ago; it had been very impressive. "I thought what Julius used was telekinesis, and I was under the impression those are two separate things."

"They are, and Julius was under a mis-a.s.sumption," Athena confirmed. "Telekinesis is the ability to affect solid objects, to move them, compress them, drop them, kind of like using a mental hand. Air-bending is one of the elemental powers. It's the ability to manipulate the air itself. By using the air, you can also lift and move solid objects, but it's the air you have control of, not the object. Does that make sense?"

Most of them nodded, including Gabi.

"It's more difficult to move solid objects using air-bending talent than using telekinesis, which is why it seems to take so much of Julius's strength to do it, but air-bending has far more real-world applications." She turned from addressing them all to face Julius again. "Once you learn how to use air-bending properly, it won't be so difficult to move solid objects, but the real strength, and danger, in air-bending is its lack of limits. Once you can manipulate the air around yourself..." She broke off for a moment, shaking her head. "Well, you could pull the air from someone's lungs, cause a tornado inside a room, prevent a poisonous gas from spreading or direct it straight at someone. You could force an air bubble into a person's vein or draw the oxygen from their bodies."

There was silence as all of them digested this information. Julius obviously hadn't considered his magical abilities in that light at all.

Mac moved, clearing his throat. "That still doesn't explain what he can do against this Demon Gate thing," he rumbled. "Can he blow it down like the big, bad wolf?"

"No." Athena shook her head. "That's where the Fire-bending comes in, actually. Magical fire is one of the most potent forces against other magic. We don't broadcast this sort of thing for obvious reasons, but Magus-made fire can burn through spells, wards, shields, just about anything magically defensive."

Gabi felt her mouth pop open; she was reeling from the implications. Julius had shut off his emotions from her, but whatever she was feeling, he must be experiencing it magnified a thousandfold.

"Well, then it's a darn good thing he's on our side, isn't it?" Mac said sagely. The muttered agreement from the group was subdued.

"And to answer one of your other questions," Athena continued, "no, we don't have months to prepare for the attack. We have days, and so few of those we may as well count hours."

"How many?" Julius asked, his voice slightly hoa.r.s.e.

"Two," Benedict said, "three at the most. The only reason it's taking that long is because they're waiting for reinforcements. They've put a call out to other Dark Magi. They're touting this as the Dark Uprising, the chance to finally overthrow the High Council and bring in a new order of freedom from persecution. Half the able-bodied Dark Magi in the world will be here in the next few days."

A frisson of cold washed through Gabi.

CHAPTER 21.

"You sure this is the best way to do this?" Gabi asked Athena and Benedict as they sat around a large round table at a Magi-owned hotel in the centre of the City. The place still made her a little nervous; the last time they'd been here there had been an ambush waiting for them outside, complete with guns and flying bullets. Alexander had taken a bullet for her, and the thought still gave her the w.i.l.l.i.e.s.

There were over two dozen other people at the table. Several of the Magi High Council, all of the SMV Council, representatives from the Werewolf Alliance and the Shape-shifter community as well as the SMV Hunters joined her, plus Kyle and Julius and a few of their people. The atmosphere was heavy enough to smother a puppy. "I'm not convinced separating our forces is a good idea. Can't we deal with the Demon Gate after we've dealt with the main a.s.sault?"

Athena unconsciously rubbed the back of her neck; she looked exhausted. "The Oracles don't see one future, but all of them. A single person making a single decision can change the future for us all. The Oracles can only tell us the best paths to follow for a favourable outcome. There are no guarantees, and there is no way they can be sure another chain of events won't unfold that they never saw." She gave a little shrug. "Our best option is to follow their advice and hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst."

"How can we prepare for the worst?" One of the Werewolf Alphas spoke up.

"I suggest you do as we have done," Irene spoke up from her seat among the other Magi High Council members, "and put plans in place for an emergency evacuation of your women, children, and loved ones. Safe harbour somewhere in another city or a nearby town. We have called in the support of the Magi community from around the world, but have left a core of strong Magi out of the war preparations. There is no guarantee we will prevail in this; there is every chance we will lose possession of the Source. The rest of the world needs to be ready if that happens. If the Source falls into the Dark Ones' hands, this will only be the beginning of the war. There must be some outside the City who understand the risks and the implications of what has transpired. Those need to be strong enough, committed enough and talented enough to lead a rebellion, to keep fighting for what we have lost."

The Shape-shifter representatives looked pale and shaken by Irene's words. Gabi felt for them. Shifters are by and large a peaceful, non-aggressive race unaccustomed to violence and conflict. She and Byron had already made plans to evacuate him, Rose and the pets, her mother and stepfather, and his son and daughter if the worst happened. Byron had at first been stubborn about it, not wanting to leave his beloved City and the rest of them to their fate, but reason prevailed when Gabi pointed out exactly what Irene had just said. They needed the security of knowing someone was there to take up the fight if they failed. Who better than to coordinate a revolt than Byron?

Julius had spoken to the Princeps and warned them of what might happen. The situation was being taken under advis.e.m.e.nt, but it was obvious that despite both Benedict's and Julius's warnings of the possible consequences, the majority of the Princeps felt safe from the wrath of the Dark Magi, considering it an internal Magi matter that had little to do with them. The best they could do was to issue warnings to the other Masters who were on speaking terms with Julius, hoping they would step up to help if the worst actually happened.

She could see others at the table making mental notes; she knew there would be a small exodus of friends and loved ones from the City in the next several hours. There were no such plans for Julius's Clan. They'd taken a stand; they had no intentions of becoming a wandering House once more. The City was theirs, and they'd stand to the very last one in its defence. The thought had Gabi deeply depressed. She wished she could convince more of those she cared about to leave too-Trish, Derek, her friends Russell and Shaun, so many others-but they were all insistent on staying to help as much as they could. She comforted herself with the thought that they wouldn't be directly involved in the fight and would be able to help with the evacuation of others.